Frontline report: Ukraine lost positions on Terrikon, a mount south of Avdiivka

Day 606 On 22 October, there were a lot of updates from the Avdiivka direction. Here, Russian forces raised the stakes even higher and conducted another massive attack in the north, while Ukrainians conducted a powerful counterattack in the south, threatening to undermine the whole Russian offensive operation. First of all, when it comes to the northern part of the region, as expected, the main target of Russian forces became Terrikon. During the last attack, Russian forces only managed to establish control over a couple of tree lines in front of the mount, which did not change the situation a lot, from the tactical perspective.

However, the Russians understood it as well. They knew that they were going to lose these gains very rapidly unless they doubled down immediately with the same intensity to leverage their new positions in front of the mount.

That is why Russians gathered forces for a new wave of attacks and tried to break into Terrikon at all costs, despite the fact that they would suffer from fire from almost all directions while trying to drive up the passage onto the first and second floors of this heap.

Geolocated footage shows how dozens and dozens of Russian tanks and armoured fighting vehicles are heading from Krasnohorivka and Vesele to Terrikon. As you can see, the closest entrance to Terrikon is very far away from the Russian side, so in order to break into the region, they need to completely expose their flanks by driving right in front of the Ukrainian firing positions. On top of that, the Ukrainian artillery also does not need additional corrections and is ready to fire at the roads the moment Russian columns get close.

As you can see, Russian forces have already lost dozens of vehicles on the same spot in previous attacks. Nonetheless, the new assault unit was sent to push through the death zone. Russians suffered mindboggling losses and continued to bury their assault units in front of the mount. Ukrainian fighters from the 110 Brigade, who are responsible for this section, reported that their drone operators use multiple crates of grenades every day due to the sheer number of targets. Other sources reported that Ukrainian artillery is firing more than 3 times more shells per day than previously. Russian forces also tried to support their offensive efforts with aviation. Russian air defence system shot down their own helicopter Mi-8, killing the whole crew. Russian sources also reported that Russians lost a battalion commander during one of the attacks. Some Russian analysts claimed that one of the goals of Russian forces was to force Ukrainians to run out of shells and bullets.

It seems like it is partially true because despite the incurred losses, Russians managed to overwhelm Ukrainians, and several Russian armoured fighting vehicles reportedly got onto the mount and started storming Ukrainian positions. Ukrainian fighters reported that the remnants of this assault unit were eventually liquidated, but it seems like the Russians damaged firing positions on Terrikon, so Ukrainians stepped back, both sides established fire control, and now no one physically controls the mount. This is an unfavourable development for Ukrainians because they lost a tactical advantage and are now at the same elevation. Moreover, if Russians establish control over the heap in a future attack, then they will set the conditions for the encirclement from the north.

Luckily, the Ukrainian commanders did not plan to stay passive in hopes that Russians would not be able to advance. As you remember, the Ukrainian High Command recently had several important meetings with the forces on the ground to plan their next moves, and it seems like the topic of the meeting was a counterattack from the south. On 22 October, Russian sources reported that Ukrainians conducted a powerful counterattack from the south. The goal of the counterattack is to advance towards Pisky and, ideally, even further.

This way, Ukrainians will cut off Russian forces in Vodiane and Opytne from the mainland, eliminating the bridgehead that Russians were building all this time to set conditions for the encirclement from the south.

If this attack is successful, Russian advances in the north will lose their operational significance, and yet another encirclement operation will fail. So far, Ukrainians managed to advance toward the fortification under the bridge, and as Russian sources reported, the pressure on Pisky increases with every second.

In our daily frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war. Read also:

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